The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop running rich

the 216 is running real rich,if I let it idle for very long,5 to 10 minutes(I was flushing out my radiator)it wants to load up real bad,plus cruising down the road I can smell the fumes pretty good(I'm run'n 1 3/4 inch strait pipe from the manifold to just in front of the rear tire) I do need an intake gasket and have a small exhaust leak at the manifold/exhaust pipe connection(those will be fixed when the gasket gets here),another thing is my plugs,I'm run'n r-44t plugs in it,does anything I have listed cause a rich running motor or is it just a bad rebuild on the old rochester?

Fix the obvious first (intake manifold gasket), the choke isn't set wrong is it? What kind of fumes? Gas fumes or exhaust fumes? Check the float level. To high will make it run rich. Also, a straight exhaust with no expansion chamber (muffler) can result in a richer mixture. A little back pressure helps any street application. Even a glass pack with no glass left in it.

Thanx Builder,I have the intake gasket ordered(supposed to be in today)and was waiting on that to fix the exhaust leak also,since I will be do'n the work at my buddy's muffler shop,go ahead and kill two birds with one stone,the 49 has become my daily ride so now all the little things that didnt bother me so much just drive'n twice a week are drive'n me nuts now that I'm in it all the time,plus if this one breaks down I'm on foot,and I smoke to much and way out of shape to be walking to town and back!

I forgot,I'm plan'n on drop'n my rear end lube,any reccomendations on some good stuff to put back in there?Heck it will be on a lift so I might as well check the tranny too,any suggestions on that one?

I run 85w90 hypoid in the tranny (manual tranny) and rear end. You might want to take the hubs off the rear and see if your seals are leaking. Also check the front seal while your at it. Might want to check the rear seal of the tranny while your at it.

If it loads up while idling it is most likely carb related. The float may be set wrong, the needle and/or seat may be defective or just dirty or it could be a leaky float. If it were mine , I would just pull it off, soak in carb cleaner, blow it all out and reassemble with a good kit.

I had a running rich problem with 44 and 45. I looked in an old Champion catalog and 216 & 235 were listed as J-12-Y, gap .035.

Made a world of difference. No more black plugs, more power, exhaust tone even sounds better.

Champion J-12-Y, .035. 10-4 thanx

I recently put Lucas synthetic 75w/90 in my '55,
made a big difference in how it shifts, I can easily go from 2-3 without the clutch. I haven't
seen any mileage improvement yet, but I admit to being somewhat of a leadfoot. Make sure to use a good sealer on all your plugs and bolt though, this stuff seems to leak badly if you don't.

just wanted to update ya'll on the 216, spent all day and part of the night in the shop replacing intake/exhaust gaskets. Why it took all day and part of the night? every thing I put a wrench on yesterday BROKE!finally got every thing drilled/tapped and what ever else I could do to get it back together,fired it up,bad exhast leak on the back port and still a small leak at the man/ex. pipe. Went to tighten exhaust flange and broke the stud,more drilling! Finally got it all together and not leaking(well just a tiny leak at the same ex.port),so I hit the road gonna drive it and get it hot and see if it will seat it self alittle and then put a little more torque on the intake bolts. After about 15 minutes of 55 m.p.h road time I get back to the shop,pop the hood and no exhaust leaks,I still torque down the bolts a little more just for good measure and notice the back side of my radiator soaking wet! the tank on the top has a new crack in it seeping coolant every where!Oh well, I guess this is the next fix on the agenda. It runs better now,I put a muffler back on it and it has a lot better throttle response and accelerates alot smoother than before,still idleing a little rich but I'm gonna try new plugs first and then the carb again if the plugs dont work!

Man, I just hate days like that when everything breaks. I usually tell myself, "put your hands in the air and move slowly away from the vehicle."

Glad it's runnin better, tho.

Just be glad it is all breaking at the same time. By the time you are done, you'l feel pretty good about how well your truck is running.